DOCSLIB.ORG

Two Cheers for Burma's Rigged Election

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Two Cheers for Burma's Rigged Election Bowling Green State University ScholarWorks@BGSU Political Science Faculty Publications Political Science 2012 Two Cheers for Burma’s Rigged Election Neil A. Englehart Bowling Green State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/poli_sci_pub Part of the Political Science Commons Repository Citation Englehart, Neil A., "Two Cheers for Burma’s Rigged Election" (2012). Political Science Faculty Publications. 1. https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/poli_sci_pub/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Political Science at ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Political Science Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@BGSU. NEIL A. EnGLEHART Two Cheers for Burma’s Rigged Election ABSTRacT Burma’s recent election was clearly not free and fair. However, it can also be seen as improving a uniquely unrepresentative government, creating greater pluralism, and institutionalizing differences within the ruling junta. Even the rigged election may have created opportunities for further opening in the future. KEYWORDS: Burma, Myanmar, elections, democracy, SPDC Burma/Myanmar’s 2011 elections represented a great success for the country’s military rulers, producing the “right” results with no significant upsets. The military’s favored party won an overwhelming majority in Par- liament, and former generals and regime loyalists were elected to all the positions of power. Thein Sein, a member of the ruling junta, was elected president, and other members secured powerful positions. These results were achieved through an election process that was clearly not free and fair, and that was roundly condemned by international observers and exiled democ- racy activists. Critics have asserted that these rigged elections and the new Parliament will change nothing in the country, which has been a military dictatorship since 1962. They emphasize that the same people who dominated the junta before the election are still running the country. Despite the unfairness of the election, however, this view is short-sighted: it assumes that the institutions created by the country’s military rulers will function exactly as they wish, it fails to ask why they saw the need to hold elections in the first place, and it as- sumes that the elections and the new Parliament are indelibly stained with the original sin of their conception. This view is dangerous insofar as it prevents Neil A. Englehart is Associate Professor of Political Science at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, U.S.A. He wishes to thank Melissa K. Miller, participants in the October 2010 South East Asian Human Rights Network human rights conference in Bangkok, and an anonymous reviewer for the journal for their helpful comments. Email: <[email protected]>. Asian Survey, Vol. 52, Number 4, pp. 666–686. ISSN 0004-4687, electronic ISSN 1533-838X. © 2012 by the Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permis- sion to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press’s Rights and Permissions website, http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintInfo.asp. DOI: AS.2012.52.4.666. 666 ENGLEHART / BURMA’S RIGGED ELECTION • 667 activists, scholars, and others concerned with governance in Burma/Myanmar from recognizing the changes the elections brought and discourages them from looking for opportunities in the new political context. Even undemo- cratic elections and imperfect democracy may represent an improvement in a sufficiently bad status quo and may also lead to consequences not anticipated by the authoritarian rulers who sponsored them. Tocqueville wrote long ago that “the most perilous moment for a bad government is one when it seeks to mend its ways.”1 The past 20 years have provided ample proof that the observation is still relevant. THE RIGGED ELECTION The election process was skewed from beginning to end in order to ensure the victory of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which was created for the election by the junta, known as the State Peace and Develop- ment Council (SPDC). The USDP was allowed to evade, bend, or break the election rules, while the government at every turn obstructed, harassed, and intimidated opposition parties. Prior to the election, the junta created constitutional structures designed to perpetuate its influence, impeded the registration of opposition parties, and hampered their campaigns. During the election, it manipulated early voting, intimidated voters, and closed polling places in areas where the USDP was unlikely to win. After the election, it manipulated the counting of ballots, eliminating a number of opposition candidates who appeared initially to have won. Even the constitutional ground rules for the election were designed to fa- vor the junta and protect it from an adverse outcome. The Constitution was passed in a controversial referendum in 2008, after 20 years during which the country had no Constitution at all and the junta simply ruled by decree. The Constitution reserves one-quarter of the seats in both houses of the legislature for military representatives appointed by the commander-in-chief, who must be a serving military officer. The president is elected by an electoral college composed of three groups, one each from the upper and lower houses and one appointed by the commander-in-chief. Each group elects a vice presi- dent, and then all three jointly elect the president from among the three vice presidents. This guarantees that the commander-in-chief, who has substantial 1. Alexis de Tocqueville, The Old Regime and the French Revolution, Stuart Gilbert, trans. (New York: Doubleday, 1955), p. 177. 668 • ASIAN SURVEY 52:4 powers in his own right, will at a minimum get to select one vice president. In addition, certain cabinet posts including the minister of defense and minister of home affairs are reserved for military officers. These provisions would be difficult to change: amending the Constitution requires a three-fourths vote in the legislature, effectively giving the military a veto if its appointed rep- resentatives vote as a bloc and they can obtain at least one additional vote.2 During the campaign, the SPDC violated its own laws through its support of the USDP, which is an offshoot of a government-organized social welfare organization, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA). Sometimes described as a government-organized non-governmental organiza- tion (GONGO), it is actually difficult to regard the USDA as an NGO of any kind because it has always drawn on government financing, personnel, office space, vehicles, and other assets. In addition, it has served as a mechanism for government suppression of opposition activities, most notoriously the 2003 Depayin Incident in which USDA-recruited thugs violently broke up a rally by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.3 In practice, the USDA always served the purpose of a mass party in an authoritarian state, functioning as a mechanism of social control and mobilization for the government. The Political Parties Registration law prohibits the use of state property or funds for campaigning. Yet, the USDP, led by then-Prime Minister Thein Sein, benefited from the use of government-owned USDA offices, vehicles, services, and media, as well as the time of government employees. In an effort to reduce the flagrancy of these violations, the government in July 2010 turned all USDA property over to the USDP, in effect privatizing the organization.4 Party and candidate registration was made difficult and expensive, deter- ring many smaller parties. The Amsterdam-based NGO Transnational Insti- tute has calculated that to contest seats in all 498 constituencies represented in the national Parliament would cost US$250,000 in candidate registration fees alone, far beyond the means of nearly all parties.5 In addition, there was 2. Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, 2008. Yangon, Ministry of Informa- tion, <http://www.burmalibrary.org/doc5/Myanmar_Constitution_2008-en.pdf>. 3. Network for Democracy and Development (NDD), The White Shirts: How the USDA Will Become the New Face of Burma’s Dictatorship (Mae Sariang, Thailand: NDD, 2006). 4. Nayee Lin Latt, “Regime Separates Assets of the USDA and USDP,” Irrawaddy (found at <http://www.irrawaddy.com>), July 8, 2010; Ba Kaung, “Fighting for Scraps,” ibid., August 1, 2010. 5. Transnational Institute, Burma’s 2010 Elections: Challenges and Opportunities (Amsterdam: International Institute, 2010), p. 4. ENGLEHART / BURMA’S RIGGED ELECTION • 669 a total of 665 seats up for election in the 14 state legislatures. The USDP was the only party able to contest nearly all of these 1,163 constituencies in both the national and local legislatures.6 The second largest party, the NUP, was able to contest 999 seats, about 85% of the total. The next largest parties, the National Democratic Front (NDF) and Shan National Development Party (SNDP) were each only able to contest less than 15% of the seats. An ad- ditional deterrent was the significant fine imposed on parties that contested the election but did not win any seats. The approval of party registration ap- plications was slow, and some were denied for apparently arbitrary reasons.7 Because of these obstacles and a conviction that the elections would not be free and fair, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), the leading opposition party and winner of the annulled 1990 election, decided not to register or contest the election.8 Particularly problematic for the NLD was a requirement that parties not have convicted criminals as members. This would have required the expulsion of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was con- victed for violating the terms of her house arrest when she briefly sheltered an American who, in a bizarre incident, swam to her house. The NLD also would have had to expel other party leaders who have been convicted of political crimes.9 The government also harassed opposition parties and candidates during the campaign.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • ↓ Burma (Myanmar)
    ↓ Burma (Myanmar) Population: 51,000,000 Capital: Rangoon Political Rights: 7 Civil Liberties: 7 Status: Not Free Trend Arrow: Burma received a downward trend arrow due to the largest offensive against the ethnic Karen population in a decade and the displacement of thousands of Karen as a result of the attacks. Overview: Although the National Convention, tasked with drafting a new constitution as an ostensible first step toward democracy, was reconvened by the military regime in October 2006, it was boycotted by the main opposition parties and met amid a renewed crackdown on opposition groups. Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, remained under house arrest in 2006, and the activities of the NLD were severely curtailed. Meanwhile, a wide range of human rights violations against political activists, journalists, civil society actors, and members of ethnic and religious minority groups continued unabated throughout the year. The military pressed ahead with its offensive against ethnic Karen rebels, displacing thousands of villagers and prompting numerous reports of human rights abuses. The campaign, the largest against the Karen since 1997, had been launched in November 2005. After occupation by the Japanese during World War II, Burma achieved independence from Great Britain in 1948. The military has ruled since 1962, when the army overthrew an elected government that had been buffeted by an economic crisis and a raft of ethnic insurgencies. During the next 26 years, General Ne Win’s military rule helped impoverish what had been one of Southeast Asia’s wealthiest countries. The present junta, led by General Than Shwe, dramatically asserted its power in 1988, when the army opened fire on peaceful, student-led, prodemocracy protesters, killing an estimated 3,000 people.
    [Show full text]
  • Burma's Long Road to Democracy
    UNITED STATES InsTITUTE OF PEACE www.usip.org SPECIAL REPORT 1200 17th Street NW • Washington, DC 20036 • 202.457.1700 • fax 202.429.6063 ABOUT THE REPORT Priscilla Clapp A career officer in the U.S. Foreign Service, Priscilla Clapp served as U.S. chargé d’affaires and chief of mission in Burma (Myanmar) from June 1999 to August 2002. After retiring from the Foreign Service, she has continued to Burma’s Long Road follow events in Burma closely and wrote a paper for the United States Institute of Peace entitled “Building Democracy in Burma,” published on the Institute’s Web site in July 2007 as Working Paper 2. In this Special to Democracy Report, the author draws heavily on her Working Paper to establish the historical context for the Saffron Revolution, explain the persistence of military rule in Burma, Summary and speculate on the country’s prospects for political transition to democracy. For more detail, particularly on • In August and September 2007, nearly twenty years after the 1988 popular uprising the task of building the institutions for stable democracy in Burma, public anger at the government’s economic policies once again spilled in Burma, see Working Paper 2 at www.usip.org. This into the country’s city streets in the form of mass protests. When tens of thousands project was directed by Eugene Martin, and sponsored by of Buddhist monks joined the protests, the military regime reacted with brute force, the Institute’s Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention. beating, killing, and jailing thousands of people. Although the Saffron Revolution was put down, the regime still faces serious opposition and unrest.
    [Show full text]
  • Law Relating Amyotha Hluttaw
    The Union of Myanmar Chapter I The State Peace and Development Council Title, Enforcement and Definition The Law Relating to the Amyotha Hluttaw 1. (a) This Law shall be called the Law relating to the Amyotha ( The State Peace and Development Council Law No. 13 /2010 ) Hluttaw, The 13th Waxing Day of Thadinkyut , 1372 M.E. (b) This Law shall come into force throughout the country ( 21st October, 2010 ) commencing from the day of its promulgation. Preamble 2. The following expressions contained in this Law shall have the meanings Since it is provided in Section 443 of the Constitution of the Republic given hereunder: of the Union of Myanmar that the State Peace and Development Council shall (a) Constitution means the Constitution of the Republic of the carry out the necessary preparatory works to implement the Constitution, it has Union of Myanmar; become necessary to enact the relevant laws to enable performance of the legislative, administrative and judicial functions of the Union smoothly, to enable (b) Hluttaw means the Amyotha Hluttaw formed under the performance of works that are to be carried out when the various Hluttaws come Constitution for the purpose of this Law; into existence and to enable performance of the preparatory works in accord (c) Chairperson means the Hluttaw representative elected to with law. supervise the Hluttaw session until the Hluttaw Speaker and As such, the State Peace and Development Council hereby enacts this the Deputy Speaker are elected when the first session of a Law in accord with section 443 of the Constitution of the Republic of the Union term of Hluttaw commences; of Myanmar, in order to implement the works relating to Hluttaw smoothly in (d) Speaker means the Hluttaw representative elected as the convening the sessions of the Amyotha Hluttaw in accord with the Constitution Speaker of the Hluttaw for a term of the Hluttaw; of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
    [Show full text]
  • Political Monitor No.20
    Euro-Burma Office 18 to 24 June 2011 Political Monitor POLITICAL MONITOR NO. 20 OFFICIAL MEDIA PRESIDENT THEIN SEIN RECEIVES VISITING INDIAN EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER President U Thein Sein received a delegation led by Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India S.M. Krishna and party at the hall of the President Office on 22 June 2011. Also present at the meeting were Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, Minister at the President’s Office U Soe Maung and departmental heads. The visiting Indian delegation was accompanied by Indian Ambassador Dr Villur Sundararajan Seshadri. The visiting Indian delegation also paid courtesy calls on Vice-President U Tin Aung Myint Oo, Speaker of People’s Parliament Thura Shwe Mann and Speaker of Pyidaungsu Hluttaw U Khin Aung Myint.1 EU DELEGATION MEETS VICE-PRESIDENT AND SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS Vice-President Thiha Thura U Tin Aung Myint Oo received a European Union delegation led by Robert Cooper, Director-General, General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, at his office in Nay Pyi Taw on 20 June. Also present were Minister for Foreign Affairs U Wunna Maung Lwin, Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Brig-Gen Kyaw Zan Myint, Deputy Minister for Labour U Myint Thein, Director-General of the Government Office U Tin Myo Kyi. The visiting EU delegation also met Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin and Deputy Minister for Health Dr. Win Myint separately during the visit. The two sides focused on strengthening relations and cooperation between Burma and the EU as well as cooperation on matters relating to the realization of the Millennium Development Goals.2 VICE PRESIDENT AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS RECEIVE RUSSIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER Vice-President Thiha Thura U Tin Aung Myint Oo received a Russian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of the Russian Federation Alexey N.
    [Show full text]
  • Political Monitor No.6
    Euro-Burma Office 1 to 11 February 2011 Political Monitor POLITICAL MONITOR NO. 6 THAN SHWE TO HEAD EXTRA-CONSTITUTIONAL “STATE SUPREME COUNCIL” Although the SPDC regime had indicated that it would hand over state power to President Thein Sein and his government, junta chief Senior-General Than Shwe has now revealed that he will personally lead a newly created council called the “State Supreme Council”, which, as its name implies, will be the most powerful body in the country, according to sources in Nay Pyi Taw. Two bodies have now emerged in the new government's administrative structure that observers say will have powers that reach—either directly or indirectly—above and beyond the powers of the new civilian executive and legislative branches. The first is the 8 member State Supreme Council, not mentioned in the 2008 Constitution. The second is the 11 member National Defence and Security Council (NDSC), which is in the 2008 Constitution and will be led by Thein Sein. “The State Supreme Council will become the highest body of the state. While it will assume an advisory role to guide the future governments, the body will be very influential,” says a source close to the military. The members of the State Supreme Council will include: 1 Sr-Gen Than Shwe former SPDC Chair (78) 2 V-Sr-Gen Maung Aye former SPDC Vice-Chair (74) Speaker, Pyithu 3 Thura Shwe Mann former SPDC member, General (64) Hluttaw 4 Thein Sein former SPDC Lt-Gen (66) President 5 Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo former General (61) Vice-President 6 Tin Aye former SPDC Member, Lt-Gen Ordinance A yet unidentified senior military 7 general A yet unidentified senior military 8 general As required by the 2008 Constitution, the NDSC will be made up of: 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Constitutional Documents of All Tcountries in Southeast Asia As of December 2007, As Well As the ASEAN Charter (Vol
    his three volume publication includes the constitutional documents of all Tcountries in Southeast Asia as of December 2007, as well as the ASEAN Charter (Vol. I), reports on the national constitutions (Vol. II), and a collection of papers on cross-cutting issues (Vol. III) which were mostly presented at a conference at the end of March 2008. This collection of Constitutional documents and analytical papers provides the reader with a comprehensive insight into the development of Constitutionalism in Southeast Asia. Some of the constitutions have until now not been publicly available in an up to date English language version. But apart from this, it is the first printed edition ever with ten Southeast Asian constitutions next to each other which makes comparative studies much easier. The country reports provide readers with up to date overviews on the different constitutional systems. In these reports, a common structure is used to enable comparisons in the analytical part as well. References and recommendations for further reading will facilitate additional research. Some of these reports are the first ever systematic analysis of those respective constitutions, while others draw on substantial literature on those constitutions. The contributions on selected issues highlight specific topics and cross-cutting issues in more depth. Although not all timely issues can be addressed in such publication, they indicate the range of questions facing the emerging constitutionalism within this fascinating region. CONSTITUTIONALISM IN SOUTHEAST ASIA Volume 2 Reports on National Constitutions (c) Copyright 2008 by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Singapore Editors Clauspeter Hill Jőrg Menzel Publisher Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung 34 Bukit Pasoh Road Singapore 089848 Tel: +65 6227 2001 Fax: +65 6227 2007 All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Burma Coup Watch
    This publication is produced in cooperation with Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN), Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Progressive Voice (PV), US Campaign for Burma (USCB), and Women Peace Network (WPN). BN 2021/2031: 1 Mar 2021 BURMA COUP WATCH: URGENT ACTION REQUIRED TO PREVENT DESTABILIZING VIOLENCE A month after its 1 February 2021 coup, the military junta’s escalation of disproportionate violence and terror tactics, backed by deployment of notorious military units to repress peaceful demonstrations, underlines the urgent need for substantive international action to prevent massive, destabilizing violence. The junta’s refusal to receive UN diplomatic and CONTENTS human rights missions indicates a refusal to consider a peaceful resolution to the crisis and 2 Movement calls for action confrontation sparked by the coup. 2 Coup timeline 3 Illegal even under the 2008 In order to avert worse violence and create the Constitution space for dialogue and negotiations, the 4 Information warfare movement in Burma and their allies urge that: 5 Min Aung Hlaing’s promises o International Financial Institutions (IFIs) 6 Nationwide opposition immediately freeze existing loans, recall prior 6 CDM loans and reassess the post-coup situation; 7 CRPH o Foreign states and bodies enact targeted 7 Junta’s violent crackdown sanctions on the military (Tatmadaw), 8 Brutal LIDs deployed Tatmadaw-affiliated companies and partners, 9 Ongoing armed conflict including a global arms embargo; and 10 New laws, amendments threaten human rights o The UN Security Council immediately send a 11 International condemnation delegation to prevent further violence and 12 Economy destabilized ensure the situation is peacefully resolved.
    [Show full text]
  • Statement by His Excellency U Thein Sein President Of
    YA A / I CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY U THEIN SEIN PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNION OF MYANMAR AND CHAIRMAN OF THE MYANMAR DELEGATION AT THE GENERAL DEBATE OF THE SIXTY-SEVENTH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY (New York, 27 September 2012) PERMANENT MISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNION OF MYANMAR TO THE UNITED NATIONS 10 E. 77TM STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10075 * TEL. (212) 744-1271 • FAX (212) 744-!290 Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations, Distinguished Delegates, First and foremost, I would like to congratulate you on your well-deserved election as the President of the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Your country, Serbia, and Myanmar has traditionally enjoyed the close friendship and cooperation. Under your able leadership, the General Assembly will make deliberations on measures to address the challenges being faced by the world today. I am confident that your vast wisdom, rich experiences and high diplomatic skills would guide our deliberations to produce desired outcomes. I would also like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to your predecessor, H. E. Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz A1-Nasser, for his outstanding leadership at the 66th session. Mr. President, Myanmar consistently pursues an independent and active foreign policy. One of the basic tenets of our foreign policy is to actively contribute towards the maintenance of international peace and security. In so doing, we encourage efforts to settle differences among nations by peaceful and amicable means. This position of ours matches well with the essence of one of the high-level themes of the current session, namely, "Settlement of disputes by Peaceful Coordination or Means".
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Myanmar-US Relations
    INDEX A strike at Hi-Mo factory and, 146, “A Study of Myanmar-US Relations”, 147 294 All Burma Students’ Democratic abortion, 318, 319 Front, 113, 125, 130 n.6 accountability, 5, 76 All India Radio, 94, 95, 96, 99 financial management and, 167 All Mon Regional Democracy Party, administrative divisions of Myanmar, 104, 254 n.4 170, 176 n.12 allowances for workers, 140–41, 321 Africa, 261 American Centre, 118 African National Congress, 253 n.2 American Jewish World Service, 131 Agarwal, B., 308 n.7 “agency” of individuals, 307 Amyotha Hluttaw (upper house of Agricultural Census of Myanmar parliament), 46, 243, 251 (1993), 307 Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom Agricultural Ministers in States and League, 23 Regions, 171 Anwar, Mohammed, 343 n.1 agriculture, 190ff ANZ Bank (Australia), 188 loans for, 84 “Arab Spring”, 28, 29, 138 organizational framework of, “arbitrator [regime]”, 277 192, 193 Armed Forces Day 2012, 270 Ah-Yee-Taung, 309 armed forces (of Myanmar), 22, 23, aid, 295, 315 262, 269, 277, 333, 334 donors and, 127, 128 battalions 437 and 348, 288 Kachin people and, 293, 295 border areas and, 24 Alagappa, Muthiah, 261, 263, 264 constitution and, 16, 20, 24, 63, Albert Einstein Institution, 131 n.7 211, 265, 266 All Burma Federation of Student corruption and, 26, 139–40 Unions, 115, 121–22, 130 n.4, 130 disengagement from politics, 259 n.6, 148 expenditure, 62, 161, 165, 166 “fifth estate”, 270 356 Index “four cuts” strategy, 288, 293 Aung Kyaw Hla, 301 n.5 impunity and, 212, 290 Aung Ko, 60 Kachin State and, 165, 288, 293 Aung Min, 34,
    [Show full text]
  • Myanmar Amnesty International Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review Tenth Session of the UPR Working Group, January 2011
    Myanmar Amnesty International submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review Tenth session of the UPR Working Group, January 2011 B. Normative and institutional framework of the State The administration of justice in Myanmar is marked by the absence of an independent judiciary and the criminalization of peaceful political dissent. The provisions of the 2008 Constitution and many laws do not meet international human rights standards. Myanmar has only ratified two international human rights treaties, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention of the Rights of the Child; however, the provisions of these are not adequately reflected in domestic law. The Constitution The new Constitution was adopted in a referendum held in the immediate aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008. It will come into force after national elections slated to take place towards the end of 2010. Amnesty International has serious concerns in relation to a number of elements within the Constitution that undermine international human rights standards and enable impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations, including past violations: • There are no provisions explicitly prohibiting torture and other ill‐treatment. There are similarly no provisions guaranteeing the rights of arrested persons to be informed promptly of the nature and cause of any charges against them or to a fair and public hearing, and the right of those arrested to be brought before a court within 24 hours does not extend to “matters on precautionary measures” taken on security and similar grounds. Provisions on freedom of expression, association and assembly are restricted by vague references to “community peace and tranquillity” (Article 354).
    [Show full text]
  • Burma's Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Assembly of the Union) Has Been the Country's First Experience of a Functioning Legislature for Almost Four Decades
    Burma’s Pyidaungsu Hluttaw: a young legislature in a changing state By Liam Allmark Beginning in 2011, the inaugural session of Burma's Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Assembly of the Union) has been the country's first experience of a functioning legislature for almost four decades. After General Ne Win's 1962 coup d'état abolished the post-independence parliamentary system, legislative power was exercised by the military through a succession of internal structures, appointed councils and single-party bodies. Tentative moves towards restoring an elected assembly in 1990 were quickly aborted by the ruling regime when the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) secured a resounding majority of the vote. Consequently many of those who won seats spent the following years in prison or exile. This picture finally began to change with the adoption of a new constitution in 2008 establishing today's system of 'disciplined democracy'. Elections were held to the new Pyidaungsu Hluttaw in 2010 and since members took their seats at a purpose-built complex in Naypyidaw the following year, this young legislature has become a focal point of Burma's shifting political landscape. Parties and elections Whilst the military no longer exercises direct and complete control over Burma's legislative system, it nevertheless retains considerable influence: 25% of members in the 440 seat lower chamber (Pyithu Hluttaw, or House of Representatives) and the 224 seat upper chamber (Amyotha Hluttaw, or House of Nationalities) are Defence Service personnel directly appointed by the Commander-in-Chief. This is particularly significant given the requirement for any constitutional amendments to be approved by more than 75% of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, effectively creating a military veto.
    [Show full text]
  • Acts Adopted Under Title V of the Treaty on European Union)
    L 108/88EN Official Journal of the European Union 29.4.2005 (Acts adopted under Title V of the Treaty on European Union) COUNCIL COMMON POSITION 2005/340/CFSP of 25 April 2005 extending restrictive measures against Burma/Myanmar and amending Common Position 2004/423/CFSP THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, (8) In the event of a substantial improvement in the overall political situation in Burma/Myanmar, the suspension of Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in these restrictive measures and a gradual resumption of particular Article 15 thereof, cooperation with Burma/Myanmar will be considered, after the Council has assessed developments. Whereas: (9) Action by the Community is needed in order to (1) On 26 April 2004, the Council adopted Common implement some of these measures, Position 2004/423/CFSP renewing restrictive measures 1 against Burma/Myanmar ( ). HAS ADOPTED THIS COMMON POSITION: (2) On 25 October 2004, the Council adopted Common Position 2004/730/CFSP on additional restrictive Article 1 measures against Burma/Myanmar and amending Annexes I and II to Common Position 2004/423/CFSP shall be Common Position 2004/423/CFSP (2). replaced by Annexes I and II to this Common Position. (3) On 21 February 2005, the Council adopted Common Position 2005/149/CFSP amending Annex II to Article 2 Common Position 2004/423/CFSP (3). Common Position 2004/423/CFSP is hereby renewed for a period of 12 months. (4) The Council would recall its position on the political situation in Burma/Myanmar and considers that recent developments do not justify suspension of the restrictive Article 3 measures.
    [Show full text]